This week, Rob has been busy prepping our 2023 Sauvignon Blanc for the bottling line. 

It will be heading to Boutique Bottlers in the Barossa on Friday and will be bottled early next week!

Sadly, there is an alarmingly large proportion of you out there who may have never tasted Rob’s Sauvignon Blanc.

And I know this because every time one of them comes up in your club pack, you swap it out for something else!

Yes… I know who you are!

 

So, it got me thinking. And that led to some Googling.

I typed in:

“Why don’t people like…”

And shockingly the first thing Google suggested as the end of my question was… “ME?”

I figured Google was trying to tell me something, so of course that lead me down a deep rabbit hole I probably shouldn’t have gone down.

But all that for another day (over a glass of wine perhaps?!)

When I finally got around to typing in the question I had meant to ask…

“Why don’t people like Sauvignon Blanc”

… the answer was not what I expected at all!

 

In my Sauvignon Blanc-loving naivety, I thought my search would lead me to a heap of articles going into bat for poor Sauvignon Blanc. Defending its position as a much-enjoyed wine by a whole range of wine drinkers.

But it turns out the hate is real!

Here are just a few quotes I found…

“… I fall strongly in the “hate” camp.  Is hate, too strong a word?  Naw…if anything, it’s not strong enough.”… “I usually don’t even want to cook with it.”

“Of course, usually despising the Sauvignon Blanc as we do, we tend to avoid it the way we would try and avoid a root canal (in all likelihood, the root canal would be less painful though).”

“If I want something that tastes like grass, I’ll drink bad iced tea.  Why the hell would anyone want to drink something like that…?”

“Astonishingly, there are people, among them some wine writers, who contend that sauvignon blanc creates wines of great character and verve. I’d love to know which sauvignon blancs they’ve been drinking. I taste dozens each year, and character and verve are two qualities most of them sorely lack.”

And this likening of Sauvignon Blanc to a type of person did actually make me laugh out loud…

“I’m thinking of white jeans and a gold-and-tan watch, a deep V-neck, uncomfortable shoes, a Michael Kors wallet and/or belt, and a Pomeranian, a surfacey interest in yoga, and a luxury SUV.”

 

Loving our blog? Sign up for weekly updates straight to your inbox…

[withwine type=’join-mailing-list’]

 

But personally, I think this laughing at Sauvignon Blanc’s expense has to stop!

Yes, ok… I will agree that there are some pretty terrible ones out there. But isn’t that true for any variety?

And we’ve drunk a lot of them over the years. Especially from our winemaking friends in New Zealand.

Let’s ignore the “cut grass” versions for a second (because they truly are awful!) and have a look at what the flavour profile really should be (thanks to this little infographic from our friends at Wine Folly)…

With descriptors like “white peach” and “passionfruit” what’s not to love?!

But also take note of the sweetness versus acidity. They should be dry (not sweet) with lots of lovely crisp acidity.

Look, I’m not telling you what you should and shouldn’t like, but I am asking you to reserve judgment until you’ve tasted the best.

And Rob’s is well and truly up there. 

 

Here is what he had to say about his 2022 version (which is almost sold out!)…

 

SOMERLED 2022 SAUVIGNON BLANC

Although fruit set was low and hence yields were down a lot in 2021/22, the dry, consistently warm but mild weather made for some lovely fruit from the 2022 vintage!  The flavour in the sauvignon blanc grapes was quite intense, especially on the shady side of the vines.

Almost as soon as the juice started to ferment, one could see the aromas and flavours really bursting forth. The job was to finish fermentation and get the wine ready for bottling asap making sure we kept all those lovely fruit notes intact.

Obviously, the wine’s in bottle now and in my opinion, the fruit notes are well and truly intact. The wine is very pale and brilliantly clear, and the aromas fairly leap from the glass. They are a great mix of the tropical and floral with a background of the more herbal/grassy. 

This follows through on the palate which is clean, bright, crisp and very soft – partly due to the modest alcohol in the wine. It’s not a wine to cellar – best drunk young and very fresh in my opinion.

It’s a great aperitif and also a terrific matched with seafood and any other light dishes.

 

And believe me… his 2023 is just as delicious!

And we’re having a party to celebrate its release on Saturday, June 24.

Send me an email if you’d like to come along and keep an eye on your email for some specials to be announced on the day.

And if you’d like to get your hands on a bottle (or more) of the 2022 before it’s all gone, I’d suggest you do it (here) sooner rather than later!

 

 

If I’ve piqued your interest and you’d like to learn more about Sauvignon Blanc, check out my post from this time last year.

But in the meantime, if you’re a hater and not a lover, I would love to hear why you’re not a fan. Because at the end of all of this, I’m still not entirely sure why people don’t like it! 

Let me know in the comments…